I dont know where you heard this from or read some where. I show my breeders if they are show able. Sometimes culls mated to culls make great show birds. Its called compensating matings.
In regards to the order of egg laying, type color meat vigor. It is not a big deal. Remember, I raise advanced large fowl American class birds. They are not barn yard type chickens that are coming up from the dark ages. They came from old strains in Calif over 50 years old and a Rhode Island Red lady from Georgia 100 years ago. Many of you want breeds that are so breed down that it will take ten to twenty years to get up to the level that I am talking about. Many want colors and breeds of chickens I have never seen or know who has them. If they are rare its because they are to hard to breed and no buddy wants to fool with them. It seems at least 80 percent of the people that contact me what these kind of endangered large fowl. So many better breeds need help to keep them going. But it goes back to those pictures in the catalogs that turns people on to these breeds.
In regards to what a male does or a female does one Colombian Plymouth Rock breeder wrote in his article in one of my early issues of the Plymouth Rock Monthly the male has more influence for color and the female has more for shape or type. I have always felt in Reds its a 50 50 issue. Some males or females can stamp their traits better than others. High prepotency is the key. In regards to chart breeding I have never interviewed master breeders who have used them or read of the great ones that wrote about how they did it. Its interesting conversation. I still like my two methods and I am going to use them.
Now why dont people show thier breeders. Some fear they will be stolen. Some fear they will get sick by the scrubs that are shown at the shows that are across from thier good birds. Some breeders are not show birds they have major faults but mated to the right females will produce good birds. I show my breeders in one day shows. I hate fairs its so stress full on the birds for a whole week. One friend shows his birds then sells them and does not bring them home. I really dont enjoy showing some judges really get under my skin as they will place birds with cull type over birds that have the correct type. I ask myself why? It seems many judges judge on what the majorty of the birds look like. If they look like plymouth rocks in type and thier are 80 in the show the twenty that look like Rhode Island Reds dont win. Cost a lot of money to go to a show. I dont need a judge to tell me what birds I need for my breeding pens. However, I would enjoy a judge like Bill or Walt to handle my birds. These judges know there stuff. I am cranky, I have two teeth that need to be pulled and if I sound like a snob forgive me. I will be better next week.
I got a very disturbing email from a father of two children the other day who wants to break into showing his chickens but the folks that he goes to the shows with are not very eager for him and his girls to show or will not help them. I had to step back a few feet and think about this. It is hard and I think the people who show have had so many people come in who pooped out in two to three years and give up they have lost interest in helping them.
You wonder what could be done to help these souls. I know the members of the Rhode Island Red Club and the Plymouth Rock Fanciers club would help these people. Just a thought.
I think some times we need to try to help you beginners on just the basics and just hope you hang in there long enough to learn how to get there and if you show you have to understand there are people out there with 20 to 30 years of experience who will beat you. You got to learn how to be like them.
Just ask yourself how many people do you know that has been in this hobby for ten to twenty years. I can count them on one hand. Not many. Of all the people I have tried to help or people be for me we are lucky to have one or two in 20 years to make it.
We just got to keep on trying. I hope to meet a fellow tonight at my home who I think has the right stuff. I will do everything I can to help him be a success.
bob
I for one appreciate your enthusiasm. I have read your posts on other threads, and you have convinced my why the old lines are valuable. Iam at the point that I am realizing I know so little about breeding chickens that I'm not sure that I can breed a breed correctly. THere is too much I don't know.
I had an uncle who bred racing pigeons for many years; he started at 15, I think, and still had birds til the day he died. Aparently great birds, that won plenty of races and paid for all their feed. I wish he was still here to talk to, but pigeons aren't chickens. I do know he didn't mess around with treating a sick bird, it was immediately culled, and gone.
I'm new enough that I am struggling with what is the best bird for my purposes. I let my SS free range in on the second day my nice big hen became coyote dinner. Maybe Ss won't survive here; maybe someone needs to tell me how to better provide for these birds. I have other breeds that have been free ranging for 9 months and only lost a few. A "lost" hen showed up with chicks at one point.
After reading more of THe Sussex Fowl, I can see where the purpose of the chicken has changed. More people are adding chickens for fun and as pets. THe long ago breeders produced hundreds if not a thousand in a season to send for fattening, keeping back the best as breeding stock. My family cannot eat a thousand in a year. That means I cannot make much progress restoring a SS from a hatchery into the big bird ir was in the 1920's. I did buy the SS from the hatchery to test it out as a layer; and that is what the hatchery SS have become, layers. From what I have read so far, they were mainly table fowl. I like the personality of the SS, but I'm still not sure they are suitable for my farm.
I purposely came looking for this thread because you are here BOb, and I see a few others that I also could learn from. You convinced me BOb, that the heritage birds are better than the hatchery birds.
